I am a practice lecturer at the School of Social Welfare at HOGENT University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Ghent, Belgium, where I teach in the Social and Educational Care Work program. My courses focus mainly on Motivational Interviewing and on managing aggression and challenging behavior. I also coordinate one of the program’s teams and am affiliated with the Substance Use and Psychosocial Risk Behavior research center (SUPRB).
My background is in practice. I spent 12 years in youth care before moving into higher education. When I started at HOGENT, I also joined the addiction care field part-time, where I worked for 10 years in prevention and early intervention.
I am a Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist (CTTS) and support people who want to quit smoking through Tabakstop, Belgium’s national quitline.
Motivational Interviewing has profoundly shaped my career, from the way I work with clients to the way I teach and train others. I deliver trainings primarily in Dutch and am also comfortable training in English.
